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Fans
General Description The DMB fan base can be generally described as being grouped into two distinct segments. One segment can be categorized an extremely loyal, dedicated, and obsessive community of fans from a wide variety of cultures and ethnic groups primarily interested in the band's music but also in the camaraderie of the community. The other (larger) segment can be categorized as a group of "scene" fans who, while casual in their musical interest (they refer to the band as "Dave"), are more interested in the social aspects (and benefits) of DMB concert going. This segment has traditionally been largely composed of white, middle-class, college-age people, and although they have served as the financial backbone for DMB's success, they have also been largely responsible for stigmatizing DMB fans as immature, reckless, hedonistic, spoiled, greedy, whiny, ignorant, materialistic, binge drinking, promiscuous, tactless, slacking, obnoxious, and shallow posers. There are also fans which tend to exhibit characteristics from both of these segments. An often telling sign of this division in the DMB fan base can is exhibited during the encore breaks at concerts, where half the crowd could be heard chanting "D - M - B", while the other half is chanting, "We Love Dave". Fan Gender Gender tends to be equal parts male and female in the fan population. Female dmb fans are notorious for tending to harbor an openly physical attraction to Dave Matthews as characterized by their screaming, "I love you Dave!" (and other variations) during concerts. Male fans also have a notoriety for tending to be "meat-heads" who are known for excessive binge drinking and predating on attractive females. They are also known to yell "Watchtower!" (a request for the band to play Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower) during concerts. Nevertheless, these gender-based characteristics are largely stereotypical and not representative of most fans. Band member Fans For each band member there is a specific segment of fans who are particularly devoted to them. Carter Beauford fans tend to be the most numerous after Dave Matthews, with Boyd Tinsley, Leroi Moore and Stefan Lessard each having a small number of fans specifically devoted to them. At Dave and Tim Shows Crowds at Dave and Tim concerts are notorious for being loud and disrespectful during the show. While Matthews prefers the audience to be quiet, attentive, and seated during these types of performances, they tend to be plagued by loud and generally inebriated fans who will scream during songs. These fans are particularly loathed by other fans who are interested in enjoying the recording of such shows without yelling and screaming during the songs. Disgruntled Fans Beginning after the release of the album Everyday, a large number of fans have expressed grief at the musical direction taken by the band. These types of fans were mostly interested in the traditional organic sound of the music and disliked the pop-sounding mood of the Everyday album. The Stand Up album also qualified among many fans as too "pop-sounding". While the release of Everyday (and furthermore, Stand Up) certainly galvanized these types of fans, it should be noted that disgruntled fans have always existed throughout the history of the band, even going back to the early years where many online fans constantly expressed their disillusionment with the music as the band grew more popular and shifted more towards the mainstream. The main issue with disgruntled fans is that they continue to attend concerts despite their disillusionment due to the fact that the live aspect of the band's music remains largely in its traditional form. This has often created a mood of tension between fans who enjoy concerts in their entirety and other fans who will openly express their discontent with concerts that do not contain specific songs they wish to hear or concerts that contain an excessive amount of songs from the Everyday or Stand Up albums.